Journal of the Institute of Engineering, 2015, 11(1): 1-11

TUTA/IOE/PCU TUTA/IOE/PCU 1
Printed in Nepal

Rockfall Characterization and Structural Protection in the

Siddhababa Section of Siddhartha Highway H10, Nepal
Kaushal Raj Gnyawali, Ranjit Shrestha, Anil Bhattarai, Pramod Rangu Magar
Anup Raj Dhungana, Imjal Sukupayo and Rasla Dumaru
Department of Civil Engineering, Khwopa College of Engineering, Tribhuvan University, Nepal
corresponding author: kaushal.raj.gnyawali@gmail.com

Abstract: Many national highways of Nepal are periodically facing the rockfall
events, causing fatal accidents. The Siddhababa section of Siddhartha Highway is a
lively example of an active rockfall zone where the highly steep slope geometry in
combination to the unfavourable inclination of the rock joints with the road alignment
primarily cause the rockfall. Recent accidents of a jeep and a bus have created much
concern on rockfall in the area. But still, we do not possess any type of structural
countermeasure to overcome this scenario. To address this problem, our study aims
at firstly characterizing the rockfall in the area and then on proposing structural
countermeasure as rockfall barriers, rock netting and rockshed, and assisted with rock
bolting, based on simulation studies and analysis of the rockfall scenario in Rocscience
Rocfall program.
Keywords: rockfall, Rocscience Rocfall program, rockfall barrier, rock netting, rock
shed, rock bolting

1. Introduction
Rockfall from the roadside rock slopes is a major hazard in the rock cut slopes of mountainous
countries like Nepal. At present, many national highways of Nepal are sporadically facing the
rockfall events, causing fatal accidents in an alarming manner. The Highway Rock Slope protection
is still unable to overcome its infancy state in Nepal and this is justified, because we could hardly
see some structural countermeasure in the form of rock bolts and counterforts in our roadside
slopes. The Siddhababa section of Siddhartha Highway is among many of the highway sections
in Nepal where fatal rockfall events have a long timeline of momentous number of casualties.
Excessively steep slope geometry in combination to the unfavorable rock joints with the road
alignment set up a platform for continuous detachment of rocks from the rock slopes and their falls
onto the Highway in the area. This has created a noxious environment for the travelers through such
Highway sections. The most recent cases of rockfall in the area include the rock mass falling on a
jeep killing two doctors [18] and more recently, a bus swept away by debris flow killing 3 people
and more missing [8]. This study aims at characterizing the rockfall in the area and proposing
structural countermeasure based on review of scientific literature and some preliminary analysis in
Rocscience Rocfall program [20]. However, the highway sections in which the structures herein
proposed are based on simplified simulation analysis and visual assessment of vulnerability of the
sections. More hazardous sections need to be identified based on detailed 3D simulation studies.
This is a limitation of this study.
2 Rockfall Characterization and Structural Protection in the Siddhababa Section of Siddhartha Highway H10, Nepal

2. Rockfall: Definition and Process

The rockfall is a slope process involving the detachment of an unstable rock mass or fragments
from the slope surface and the subsequent downslope movement by ways of falling, bouncing,
rolling or sliding and finally stopping at a relatively flat area or a barrier [19, 22, 28, 15]. If there
are any people or facilities within the area of rockfall movement and certain losses are caused it is
called the rockfall hazard. It may be caused by jointing, weathering, erosion of surrounding material
during heavy rain storms, freeze-thaw cycles, pore pressure increase due to rainfall infiltration in
the rock joints, earthquake, and root growth or leverage by roots moving in high winds [19, 22, 29,
16]. It is a rapid, mostly natural and rather spontaneous hazard. The Varnes [22] classification of
landslides classifies rockfall as a type of landslide which can occur singly or in clusters, but with
little dynamic interaction between the most mobile moving fragments, which interact mainly with
the substrate (path) and possessing extremely rapid velocities [13].
The rockfall kinematics and dynamics depend on block geometry, block mass, slope topography,
surface materials and vegetation. The geometrical properties of the parent rock discontinuities,
such as orientation, density, persistence, and roughness control the occurrence of rockfall events
mainly and once the failure occurs, blocks move downslope following irregular paths and gain
velocity on free air falls as potential energy is converted into kinetic energy [9]. On each impact,
rolling or sliding, the total energy gets dissipated until the resisting ground frictional force or
barrier reaction overcomes the energy of the block and stops it [9, 25, 26]. The rockfall frequency
is highly variable and depends on site characteristics such as: morphology and geology of the
source area and slope control the provision of materials and the spatial and temporal distribution
of the triggering processes [16].
3. Study Area
The Study area lies in Palpa district of Lumbini Zone, Western Development Region Nepal, near
the town of Butwal. It is a stretch of the Siwalik hills extending about 2.6 km from the Welcome
to Palpa gate to some 700m ahead of Ramapithecas park area. Primarily, the rock mass contains
three distinct joint sets + bedding. Typical rock type is Sandstone of specific gravity 2.45 to 2.60,
depending upon the degree of weathering and together we find mudstone beds at some places.
Previous studies conducted in the section include Hazard Mapping of the unstable slopes in the area
[21], Hazard Rating and Event Tree analysis for assessing rockfall risks in 12 different sections in
the area [14]. Two independent study reports and mitigation proposals have already been submitted
to Department of Roads (DOR), [4,5] in the subsequent years. However, the implementation phase
seems to take some time.
 Gnyawali et al. 3

Fig. 1. The study area

4. Rockfall Characterization
Plane failure is the most prominent type of failure caused due to a SW facing joint set. And together,
a short reach of about 400m of Wedge failure region is also found from Chahara area to some 100m
ahead of Ramapithecas Park between SE and SW facing joint sets.

Fig. 3. Typical stereo plot for the 4 joint sets

Fig. 2. Aspect map of the rock slopes prevailing in the area
4 Rockfall Characterization and Structural Protection in the Siddhababa Section of Siddhartha Highway H10, Nepal

4.1 Cause of Rockfall in the Area

Table 1. Identification of the cause of rockfall in the area.

4.1.1 Orientation of the 4.1.2 Discontinuity in 4.1.3 Weakening of 4.1.4 Gully Erosion/
road and discontinuity sets Bedding Rock Mass Debris flow
Steep slopes (avg. 70 to Basically, the bedding The area receives High monsoon
85 dip), a SW dipping is of sandstone but high precipitation and precipitation and steep-
joint (avg. 60), and NS at places, mudstone most of the time, the high slopes in the area,
alignment of the road beds were observed. joints show no infill. cause the surface runoff
cause the orientation The mudstone erodes Thus, pore pressure at high velocities. The
vulnerability of rocks slope quickly and easily built up due to rainfall heavily jointed rocks
failure. The basic friction by the rushing gully infiltration; & together, start splitting from uphill
angle of Sandstone found or rain water and weathering is occurring and the blocks/fragments
in the area varied between thus the overlying at a faster rate, thereby are brought down by
28 to 39, thus plane jointed rock masses encouraging rock the runoff water. Many
failure is triggered. And for lose their support and splitting and fall. The gullies are formed and
Wedge failure, the average start falling. This is Rockfall is then being smaller rock fragments
trend and plunge angle of a chain type reaction triggered by road resting unstably in the
the line of intersection were mechanism as the rock vibrations caused by channel pose threatening
231 and 53 respectively. falls after the other. heavy and busy traffic. rockfall events.

4.2 Slope Failure Modes

Based on the observations and literature review, the slope failure/rockfall problem character in the
area is grouped into three simple modes:

Fig. 4. The primary bedding is of sandstone and mudstone occurs at places; the mudstone bed erodes/wash
out by rain then the overlying jointed rock loses support thus slips by plane failure
 Gnyawali et al. 5

4.2.1 Block failure

Large blocks (average size. 1m3 to 20 m3) splitting from the surface and falling on the road with
mostly plane failure mechanism.
4.2.2 Slope scar Collapse
A portion of the rock slope fails by shear failure causing minor scale landslide leaving scar on the
slope.
4.2.3 Gully Erosion/Debris flow
Many gully channels are being formed which are activated periodically during monsoons and carry
large volume of debris at high speeds towards the road.

Fig. 5. Rock slope failure problem (a, b), Block failure type (c, d), Slope scar collapse and Debris flow (e & f).

The recent rockfall of [18] is a slope scar type fall of approximately 18-20 m3 volume and of [8]
is Debris flow type fall.
5. Rockfall Protection
Rockfall protection includes risk assessment, identification of mitigation options, and design of
structural countermeasures which requires a careful quantification of rockfall onset susceptibility
and block size distributions in the potential source areas, expected rockfall trajectories, distribution
and intensity of impacts, and magnitude and statistical variability of involved kinematic and
6 Rockfall Characterization and Structural Protection in the Siddhababa Section of Siddhartha Highway H10, Nepal

dynamic quantities (i.e. velocity, kinetic energy, fly height [1]). A large variety of protection
measures against rockfalls exist which include: natural protection by means of forest, semi
natural structures such as embankments and ditches and fully artificial structures such as fences,
attenuators, galleries or walls [12, 24]
6. Rockfall Modelling
To predict the rockfall threat and for proper design and dimensioning of the protection measures,
we need to estimate the rockfall run-out distance and then quantify their kinetic energies, jump
heights and impact loads for each point along their fall paths in a spatial domain [24, 7]. We require
the simulation results in the design process of appropriate remedial measures to rockfall such as
ditches, barriers, rock catch fence and attenuators, draped mesh, rock sheds and embankments [24,
28] and thence we can determine the appropriate physical parameters of a preventive structure, such
as position, type, strength, length, height and the magnitude and direction of the impact loads [2].
Some literature with holistic approach on design of rockfall protective structure from numerical
modelling of rockfall could be [17, 15]. For the purpose two methods are practised: full scale tests
or rockfall simulation by commercially available software. The latter is preferred because it is
both time and cost effective solution. However careful attention should be paid towards collecting
detailed field data and the calibration of the model is a prime concern in such simulation works.
The rockfall source regions can be defined as points (e.g., isolated outcrops or localized failures),
lines (e.g., cliff-top envelopes), or areas [9] and then the rockfall dynamics and kinematics are
computed employing either empirical, process based or complete three dimensional rigid body-
terrain interaction approaches. Dorren [6] categorized all the existing rockfall models in three main
groups: (1) empirical models, (2) process based models and (3) GIS based models. Recent works
of Volkwein et al. [24] classifies the rockfall models into 2D models (user defined slope profile/fall
paths), 2.5D models (2D models assisted by GIS to derive pre-defined slope profiles/fall paths) and
3D models (calculate the rockfall trajectory in a full three dimensional environment). However,
the two dimensional modelling is preferred when the geometrical and dynamic effects of the 3D
topography can be ignored, for example on planar cliff-talus slopes, on slopes characterized by
low roughness [3], or on slopes with little or no vegetation and in steep gullies or valleys mainly
because of their computational efficiency and currently enough literature review is available for
them. A good literature review for the purpose would be the works of Wyllie [27].
7. Structural Protection Proposal Approach
A detailed field visit is done and data related to slope, previous rockfall events, existing and
previous block sizes, slope profiles along most critical sections, material on the slope and structural
discontinuity data is collected in order to simulate the rockfall events in Rocsciece Rocfall [20]
program and for other analyses. Sections are evaluated based on: 1) frequency of rockfall events/
hazard 2) slope failure character 3) approximate energies of the falling blocks after analysis in
Rocscience Rocfall 4) site accessibility and then appropriate structural countermeasures are
proposed. Basically three types of protective structures are proposed: 1) Rockfall catch fence 2)
Anchored rock mesh system and 3) Rock shed and rock bolting as an additional asset. These
structures are proposed based on field based reconnaissance, and their suitability under the existing
engineering geological conditions. Tentative energy range for rockfall barrier is from 1000KJoules
to 3000KJoules. The anchored rock mesh, aka rock netting is chosen for areas consisting of
superficial rocks adjacent of the road. Block sizes ranging from about 0.3 m3 to 2 m3 formed due
to structural jointing of the sandstone beds and destabilized by the erosion of mudstone layers
 Gnyawali et al. 7

inter-bedding could be draped with the rock nets for protection. The rock shed is proposed at
Chahara section because of large size blocks, heights from which they could fall, very inaccessible
steep terrain and abnormality in rock slope failure ranging from large rock falls to debris falls and
dry landslides. In addition, some unstable blocks also need rock bolting. All in all, these systems
should be used in an integrated form to prevent rockfall hazard in Siddhababa. For quick review of
these structures, a brief documentation is available at [10]. A much detailed discussion is available
at [26].
7.1 Rock Catch Fence
The Rockfall catch fence acts as a flexible barrier system absorbing the energy of the falling rock
by the deflection of its components (ring nets or omega nets in particular, then friction brakes,
cables, hinge frames and other deformable energy dissipating structures). A design suitable for a
particular site depends on the topography, anticipated impact loads and bounce heights. A common
feature of all the designs is their ability to withstand impact energy from rockfalls due to their
construction without any rigid components [28].
7.2 Anchored Rock Mesh
These systems consist of covering the superficial rocks adjacent of the road and restraining their
movement them on the slopes itself by steel meshing system guarded by the pattern rock bolts
at intervals. These thus act as passive systems and are suitable to control mainly smaller blocks
sliding from the weathered rock outcrops just adjacent to the road.
7.3 Rock Shed
This acts as a rigid structure and has a cushion layer at its top such that the energy of the falling
rocks be absorbed significantly before causing any damaging effects to the roof. These could be
constructed as cantilever type or base support type based on the site conditions. These are capable
of restraining very high impact energies and are self-cleaning structures i.e. rocks are generally
removed from the roof because of the sloping provided at the roof and no manual removal of the
fallen rocks is required.
In addition to these, rock bolting is necessary for some blocks lying critically stable in some slopes.

Fig. 6. Schematic of Rockfall barrier system discussed herein. Modified after [26] and courtesy Geobrugg Inc.
8 Rockfall Characterization and Structural Protection in the Siddhababa Section of Siddhartha Highway H10, Nepal

Fig. 7. Schematic of Anchored rock mesh system discussed herein: a) section view b) plan view.: Modified
after [26] and courtesy Trumer Schutzbauten.

Fig. 8. Schematic of possible Rock shed configuration discussed herein. After Vogel [23].
 Gnyawali et al. 9

Fig. 9. Proposal of structural countermeasures

Figure 10. Sample analysis in Rocscience Rocfall program.

8. Results and Conclusion

This study concludes that the rockfall character in the Siddhababa section of Siddhartha highway
H10, Nepal is hazardous and needs structural countermeasures. Basically three types of slope failure
occur: Block failure, Gully erosion and Slope scar collapse due to unfavourable orientation of the
discontinuity sets with the road, breaking sequence of sandstone beds by mudstone, weathering
10 Rockfall Characterization and Structural Protection in the Siddhababa Section of Siddhartha Highway H10, Nepal

and debris flow. The structural protection of rockfall in Siddhababa could be: 1) Rockfall barrier
system, 2) Anchored rock mesh rock netting system and 3) Rockshed. In addition, rock bolting
is necessary for some critically stable blocks on slopes. Immediate need for installation of such
novel structures seems necessary. However, the highway sections in which the structures herein
are proposed are based on simplified simulation analysis and visual reconnaissance of vulnerability
of the sections. More hazardous sections need to be identified based on detailed 3D simulation
studies. This is a limitation of this study.
Acknowledgments: This research is an outcome of inspiration and support from Er. Sujan Maka,
principal of Khwopa Engineering College, Bhaktapur, Nepal and Dr. Ranjan Kumar Dahal,
Associate Professor (Engineering Geology), Tribhuvan University, Tri-Chandra Campus, Nepal.
We are also thankful to the Department of Civil Engineering at Khwopa College of Engineering,
Libali, Bhaktapur.

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